Andrew Carey
Limerick and Shannon have featured strongly in the Financial Times fDi magazine rankings for 2016/17 with Limerick coming first in the Top 10 Micro European cities of the future. Shannon came 4th in the same category
Limerick came second in the Top 10 Micro European cities for economic potential while Shannon ranked 4th. Limerick also featured in second place in the Top 10 Micro European cities for business friendliness while Shannon was ranked 7th.
Limerick was also ranked in the Top 10 Northern European cities of the future, placing 10th in the category.
fDi’s European Cities and Regions of the Future league table is published every two years using data from across 481 locations. The ‘micro city’ category is for cities with an immediate city population of less than 100,000.
The IDA’s Head of Regional Business Development, Andrew Vogelaar said: “Limerick and Shannon have performed extremely well in terms of Foreign Direct Investment in recent years. Many are new investments of scale by established companies but new multinational companies too have been attracted to both locations by the business-friendly environment and strong talent pool. This is testament to their ability to win and retain FDI and is a strong endorsement of both locations as great places to do business.”
Other Irish regional locations also featured in the rankings with Cork named the best small city in Europe for its Foreign Direct Investment strategy, placed 4th in the Top 10 Small European Cities of the future for economic potential and featured in the Top 10 Small European Cities of the future as well as placing 5th in the Top 10 Small European cities of the future for business friendliness.
Galway was named the best Micro European City for business friendliness while Waterford was placed 4th and Shannon 7th. Galway placed 2nd in the Top 10 Micro European Cities of the future 2016/17 and Waterford ranked 5th. Galway came out on top again in the Top 10 Micro European Cities for economic potential with Waterford in 4th place. Galway came 5th in the Top 10 Micro European Cities for its FDI strategy.
